Combat archery Crossbow Clarification

This week we received a question about whether a particular crossbow was legal.

The bow was using paracord and a handle to help span the bow. It was a really clever setup, checking the Midrealm rules it fell into a bit of a grey area. I checked the Pennsic rules and the crossbow would not have been legal at Pennsic.

My goal for CA is that any bow that is legal in the Midrealm would also be legal at Pennsic. So, I’m changing the rule to add more clarity and bring us back into alignment with the Pennsic rules.

The old rule prohibited:

Combat archery crossbows which utilize a mechanical cocking lever (sometimes called a “goat’s foot”);

The new prohibition will be:

Combat archery crossbows which utilize a mechanical advantage cocking lever. (“goat’s foot”, “cord and pulley” and “belt and claw” systems are a few examples)